Biden and world leaders meet at 2021 NATO summit

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the mood at the summit was like “first day back at school” and recalled what he called a “strong message” delivered by US President Joe Biden.

“We heard a strong message from President Biden on America’s commitment to NATO,” Stoltenberg went on to say, adding that all the remaining allies had made “an equally strong commitment” in return. 

“All leaders agreed that in an age of global competition Europe and North America must stand strong together in NATO, to defend our values and our interests, especially at a time when authoritarian regimes, like Russia and China challenge the rules based international order,” he also said. 

The heads of state and government of NATO member states have issued a communiqué highlighting the “threat” presented by Russia and the “challenges” posed by China, following a meeting on Monday. 

“China’s growing influence and international policies can present challenges that we need to address together as an Alliance,” the statement added. “We will engage China with a view to defending the security interests of the Alliance.”

You can read the full communiqué here.

NATO leaders meeting in Brussels today have largely backed the US decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, according to a senior administration official present for the talks.

Some American allies had griped ahead of the summit that they weren’t properly consulted before Biden announced he would withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11. Others have questioned how security can be maintained in the country when US troops leave, particularly at Kabul International Airport and at other diplomatic facilities.

The official, who was present for the closed-door NATO talks, said there was unanimity among countries who had contributed troops to the Afghanistan mission that the withdrawal was the right decision.

Now, NATO leaders are discussing practical ways to maintain security in Afghanistan, including embassy presence, security training, counterterrorism efforts and economic aid.

The official said despite reports of friction among NATO allies over the Afghanistan decision, “that is not the vibe in the room today.”

“There's an incredible amount of warmth and unity around the entire agenda, including the ‘in-together-out-together’ aspect of the Afghanistan drawdown,” the official said.

US President Joe Biden delivered remarks behind closed doors at a NATO summit in Brussels and met on the sidelines with leaders from Poland, Romania and the Baltic states, according to a senior administration official.

The talks centered mainly on Russia, the official said, ahead of Biden's summit with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

Biden communicated to the Baltic leaders that the US wants a "stable and constructive relationship with Russia, but also will respond in the face of Russia's harmful activities," the official said.

China also arose in the conversations, the official said, adding they also discussed Belarus, and in particular "air piracy" in light of the recent forced diversion of a Ryanair flight bound for Vilnius.

Similar themes emerged in his meeting with the Polish and Romanian leaders. He discussed his intentions for the summit with Putin and offered a commitment to "stand up at the face of the threat posed by Russia."

Biden spoke more in-depth with Poland's President Andrzej Duda to go deeper on security cooperation.

At NATO, Biden has also spoken to the prime ministers of Spain and the Netherlands, along with G7 leaders who traveled from the summit in Cornwall to NATO.

Here is the official readout of Biden's meeting with President Duda of Poland:

A draft version of the NATO summit communiqué that the leaders of the North Atlantic alliance member states are expected to approve on Monday will, for the first time, highlight China’s military ambitions, a senior official from a NATO member state told CNN.

The contents of the draft communiqué were first reported by the New York Times.

Despite its novel emphasis on China, the 45 page and 79 paragraph long draft still describes Beijing as presenting “challenges,” whereas Russia is clearly labelled as a “threat.”

China was also a key topic at the G7 summit over the weekend in England. One of Biden's major proposals to the group was a global infrastructure program meant to compete with China's Belt and Road initiative and was included in the summit's final statement. But it didn't include any specific commitments from countries on how much they're willing to contribute.

CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed cooperation between the two countries on Covid-19, trade and defense as they met on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels, according to a readout of the meeting issued by the UK prime minister's office.

Here's a full readout of the meeting from a Downing Street spokesperson:  

US President Joe Biden is using time away from summit meetings on his European tour this week for intense preparations ahead of his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, according to officials, as he works to avoid the pitfalls his predecessors faced meeting with the Russian leader. 

Most of his formal meetings this week have started after noon, leaving his mornings free for consultations with advisers. He has held lengthy preparation sessions with senior officials, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, to discuss the wide range of issues he plans to bring up with Putin, from cyber to Syria to Ukraine. 

The President has also asked foreign leaders at the G7, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for their input as he prepares for the meeting in Geneva, according to people familiar with the conversations. 

Putin even came up as a point of conversation during his tea with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, Biden told reporters, saying she “wanted to know” about the Russian president. 

Given some NATO allies had expressed concern about the optics of Biden's summit with Putin, Sullivan said Biden would speak privately with leaders "about what he intends to talk to Putin about" during a summit of the defense alliance on Monday.

As Biden becomes the fifth straight American president with whom Putin has met, officials want Biden to be prepared for Putin’s tactics, including his well-known habit of turning discussions of Russia’s bad practices back on the United States. Biden has told aides he believes Putin will respond to directness during their talks, and wants to be ready to offer a frank message.

"He’s overprepared!" Biden's wife Jill exclaimed last week when asked whether her husband was primed for his meeting with Putin.

Along with Merkel, Biden has opened the door for input to other key allies in bilateral meetings and conversations on the margins over the last several days. The idea serves dual purposes, aides said: While Biden’s decades in foreign policy give him a self-assurance about his approach, he sees value in the views of others who have had similar meetings with the Russian leader.

From CNN's Kevin Liptak, Phil Mattingly, Jeff Zeleny, Kaitlan Collins in Brussels and Natasha Bertrand in Geneva

Read more about Biden's preparation for the Putin meeting here.

The first session of the NATO summit is officially underway. The White House confirmed that US President Joe Biden met earlier today with the leaders of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

The meetings with the Baltic leaders were on Biden's schedule but were not open to press coverage.

All 30 NATO world leaders wore face masks as they entered a hall for the family photo, practicing social distancing. They were told via overhead to remove their masks and look at the cameras for a full 15 seconds. 

After the photo was taken the group was told to look at a futuristic, columnar screen in the center of the room, which lit up with a video touting the alliance. The clip was accompanied by soaring music. 

“Cool,” Biden appeared to mouth at the video’s conclusion. 

The leaders were then told to put their masks back on before the summit began.

Watch here: